It was peculiar.
Walking into Anafang, Karlos looked around, but he couldn't see anybody outside.
The gates, the houses, and even the once-bustling market were completely empty. It was practically a ghost town. All of the stalls were empty, with scarce traces of food and accesories strewn around. It was like everyone immediately fled from a storm that never came.
What was mroe worrisome, however, is that the walls that protected the village had clear signs of damage. Parts were broken or collapsed, as if attacked by... something.
Even stranger, the columns of smoke he had seen from outside mysteriously vanished, making the village look uninhabited for decades.
Smelling the air, he caught the faint scent of metal, but it was too vague for him to tell where it was coming from.
What's going on? Is there an event I missed? Or...
Although Karlos was concerned, he needed to tend to his wounds first and headed to the town's clinic.
Walking down the path, he eventually stood in front of a small stone building that had a decorated sign outside, looking closer, it read "Siohhûs."
It wasn't much of a medical centre. Gisthûs, his self-proclaimed physician, would often come from the manor to help out, but the clinic itself was hardly supported financially, and Gisthûs himself... Wasn't the most reliable for medical advice. Sure, he knew his way around herbs and remedies, but if you'd ask him how to stop leg cramps, he would most certainly recommend swimming in the lake for exercise...
As such, it was surprising to see the dust in front of the door scattered everywhere and the windows tightly shut. Since not many people came here in the first place, what was the point of closing the windows?
Karlos tried the door, but found it was locked. Looking at the sky, he saw the sun only halfway on the horizon.
That's strange... The clinic isn't supposed to close this early...
He thought that, but it was sort of redundant. As long as there was someone that needed medical attention, one of the live-in nurses would open the doors, and if needed, they would call Gisthûs over if he was free.
He gently knocked on the door.
'KNOCK' 'KNOCK'
...
No response.
Now Karlos was unsettled. He hadn't seen a single sign of life since he entered, and the village seemed completely abandoned.
Actually... Looking closer, Karlos realized there were signs of scratching on the doors and windows, but they were relatively faint. He wouldn't have noticed if there weren't such a pronounced gash on one of the wood frames.
'CRIK'
Suddenly, Karlos turned around and saw the faint outline of a small creature with wings near one of the houses. Below it, he could see a pile of... something.
What is...? Karlos stepped onto the grass and found the animal familiar. In fact, he had seen one just before he had left with Kassel.
It was a Rasselbock.
"Wha...!" Karlos quickly covered his mouth the moment he saw the beast biting at the remains of what looked to be a human. Swiftly and quietly, he ducked behind a bush and lay low on the ground.
'TWITCH'
It was a horrifying sight, the small nose of the rabbit monster wiggled cutely as it viciously mangled the flesh, a large waft of blood carried over to his nose by the wind.
Karlos wanted to puke, but he covered his nose and resisted the nausea, refraining from alerting the horrible monster.
Is... that the same one the Tiôrden captured...?
Moments later, his question was answered. To his horror, Karlos saw another rasselbock step out from behind a tree stump and joined the other rabbit creature in feasting, the sharp yelps and growling only attracting more rasselbocks
Three... Seven... T-This is absurd... In just two minutes, over twelve rasselbocks ravaged the corpse, like a horde of piranhas swarming helpless prey. He could even see them using their sharp fangs to crack and eat the bones, their long tongues licking at the blood staining the grass.
Moments later, there was nothing left of the body. The monsters dispersed and he could only see the faint outline of blood on the ground where the body once was.
This must be why I didn't see anybody when I came in... They don't leave a single thing behind...
Chills. Karlos suddenly felt the gravity of the situation crush his back, his whole body trembling with fear. He wanted to throw up, but he knew he had to do something, or else the rasselbocks would find him eventually.
But... What could he do?
It was unlikely he could take down even a single one normally, much less several groups with multiple injuries and broken bones. Even the Tiôrden had suffered a wound from a singular rasselbock too, after all, and he didn't even have a weapon.
Wait.
Touching his face, Karlos felt an immense sense of dread.
Blood.
The spear that Kassel had thrown at him didn't make a deep wound, it was a relatively minor injury so he didn't think much of it, especially since it already closed over.
But the singular droplet of blood on his face had unimaginable repercussions.
'SNIFF'
Looking to the right, he saw a rasselbock sniffing the air, following a particular scent. It was... metallic? Sort of familiar and definitely distinct. Although it mixed with the faint smells present in the air, this one scent was much more pungent.
It was the smell of his blood.
...Damn! I need to-
'CRACK'
The rasselbock looked over.
…
It's been some time since he legitimately swore, but this situation likely warranted it.
He was in a bad spot, in all fairness.
'HISS'
The Rasselbock lunged towards Karlos, its lungs producing a deathly screech that alerted the other monsters to its location.
"Ah, damn it!-" He stood up, but quickly felt the sting of his broken ribs. Grabbing a nearby branch, he swung at the thing.
'WSH'
For a bloodthirsty beast, it was surprisingly agile. Flapping the large wings on its back, it dodged Karlos's meagre swing and braced to lunge at the young man once again.
Karlos wasn't about to stand there and die, though. He sprinted towards the backdoor of the clinic and tried the door.
'CLICK'
Locked...
With no other options and hardly any time to waste, he braced his good arm and slammed the window, breaking the wooden framing.
"Ack...!"
Tumbling into the building, he quickly found the bookshelf full of medicinal books and treatments that belonged to Gisthûs. Pushing with all his effort, he narrowly blocked the window and prevented the raving monster from entering.
'SLASH' 'SCRATCH'
He knew it wouldn't hold for very long. There were likely more rasselbocks coming and the small shelf wasn't sturdy enough to resist more than a hard push.
Thankfully these things aren't that strong...
He quickly grabbed as many herbs and medicines he could spot and headed upstairs, using a few more shelves and desks to block the stairs.
He hadn't been to the second floor of the clinic much. It was usually reserved for bedridden patients and the nurses that lived here. The most notable memory he had was when he got bit by a wild fox in the forest while exploring with Kassel, thus being forced to stay for meticulous checkups by a very concerned Gisthûs.
It's just like how I remembered...
There were multiple rooms that each had a small bed and desk, a wooden sign next to each one that could be written on with cloth to identify patients. To the left, he saw one room that was especially decorated and full of various toys, clothes, and objects from the forest.
Kassel... She used to always get in trouble while exploring...
...
He wiped the moisture from his eyes and walked to one of the beds. Sitting down, he sifted through the items he had collected and picked out the ones he recognized.
This one... Should be Rabbitgrass... How ironic.
This was a common type of herb found around the tree stumps of the forest. The bright yellow plant was especially useful for healing wounds and energized the body when made into a soup. It was Karlos's go-to treatment from Gisthûs whenever he got sick.
Although the furnace was downstairs, he didn't need to heat it. Grabbing a nearby mortar and pestle, he crushed the herb into dust and... What came next?
I remember... Gisthûs used some kind of liquid to turn it into gel... Hm...
He was stumped. With no other option, he decided to just drink the medicine. Heading to the storage room off to the left, he took out one of the emergency water pouches made of animal skin from the rack.
Placing the dust into the water, he drank the entire thing in one go.
...Salty.
He also found a small bottle of a cream-like substance labelled "Mint"
His medicinal knowledge ended here in terms of proficiency. He only knew what he could by observing Gisthûs at work, and he was never taught about the specifics of what each thing did.
I remember he used to rub something like this on my cuts and bruises...
...Oh well, It can't hurt to try it, right?
Although his view of medicine was... dangerous. It didn't stop Karlos from rubbing the cream on his face, ribs, and arm. While he was at it, he also rubbed his legs with the substance, hoping it would relieve his soreness.
I should probably stop here. Who knows if the next concoction turns out to be poison...
Putting the bottle down, he decided to finally rest and think about the situation he was in.
Before Kassel and I left for the forest, that rasselbock that the Tiôrden had captured... Did it call for other monsters of its kind? It looks like the whole village was attacked by these beasts...
For now, I should find Lysandra again. Although we're both injured, at least she might be able to hold off one of those monsters. I'll bring these medicines to her and-
'SLAM'
Karlos stood up and felt the vibrations of multiple footsteps and yelps. It was likely the bookshelf that had collapsed and several rasselbock were looking for him. He watched as the barricade he made was being clawed at by the monsters.
No time to waste, he thought. Grabbing the medicine familiar to him, he went over to the balcony and unlocked the window.
The breeze of summer hit him once again, but it was foul this time around. The stench of fur and blood made him want to gag, but he held himself back. Trudging along the stone wall, he quietly and carefully stepped down onto the grass by stepping off one of the wooden windows.
Swiftly, he dashed through the village towards the gates, trying to make as little noise as possible.
He knew it wasn't feasible to stay unnoticed forever. What with the scent of medicine and herbs on his body now, the moment he heard footsteps other than his, he sprinted with all his effort.
Screeching quickly rose behind him, but Karlos didn't look back. Passing through the gates, he quickly ran over to where Lysandra said she'd wait.
'CRISH'
...Agh! Karlos collapsed to the floor and found a rasselbock tightly gripping onto his leg, its fangs dug into his flesh.
"H-Help!"
He called out to the forest, but he didn't get a response.
The rasselbock surprisingly let go of its grip, and walked along his back.
Looking behind him, Karlos saw the bloodstained teeth of the vicious rabbit bared at him, and behind it, there were several other rasselbock rushing over.
The rasselbock prepared to lunge, its eyes focused on Karlos's exposed neck as it made a horrible hissing.
Karlos began tearing up.
I guess... I never got to resolve anything... Did I...?
"Close your eyes!"
Karlos came back to his senses. He instantly recognized that voice and did as he was told, tightly shutting his eyelids.
His back suddenly felt heavy, like a large rock was placed on it, crushing his ribs.
But he didn't move, he continued to close his eyes as he heard the hissing and screeches of the surrounding rasselbocks die down.
After a few seconds, he heard that familiar voice once again.
"You can open your eyes now."